


Power

by icandrawamoth



Series: February Ficlet Challenge 2020 [18]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple
Genre: Batuu, February Ficlet Challenge, February Ficlet Challenge 2020, Force-Sensitive Original Character(s), Gen, Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple Hollywood Studios live show, Pre-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Temptation, not quite original characters but close enough I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:53:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23023549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icandrawamoth/pseuds/icandrawamoth
Summary: Nedriss, a student of the Force on Batuu, covets Kylo Ren's power.
Series: February Ficlet Challenge 2020 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624723
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1
Collections: February Ficlet Challenge 2020





	Power

**Author's Note:**

> For February Ficlet Challenge prompt "secret admirer." Yes, this is based on the [live show](https://youtu.be/-WhnqoBTvjc?t=117) at Hollywood Studios. Yes, I'm only a little abashed that I'm like this.

Nedriss Narr never expected her life to turn out this way. To be plucked from the streets of Black Spire Outpost by some strange girl with a staff, told she was sensitive to a mystical energy field called the “Force.” Put in intense training to learn to wield it and help take the galaxy back from the First Order.

It doesn't upset her. Master Vanzell is kind and patient, and she has learned much from him, though he himself is not a true Jedi either. Neither of them are particularly strong, but the Resistance needs every hand it can get.

What _does_ frustrate Nedriss is the lack of actual fighting. More often than not, she and her master are set up in a corner of the outpost _performing_ for children. “Training” them, even, if teaching them simple swings with fake lightsabers can be called that. As if the Resistance would ever use younglings in battle.

It's propaganda. Nedriss knows this. Spreading the myth of the Jedi – telling people they are myth no longer. Telling people light rises again, that the Resistance can win.

It's a worthy enough cause, but Nedriss wishes she could do more. Sometimes she watches Rey practice with her staff or her own legendary saber, the near-mystical way she whirls and strikes, the pure power of her. Wishes she could have half as much practical use.

Once, Nedriss watched her take on Kylo Ren himself during a brief clash in the market. It was the first time Nedriss had ever seen the Supreme Leader in person, and she hadn't expected him to be so captivating. Hadn't expected the frenzy of his red blade and the sheer brutality of his attacks to send a thrill through her.

Nedriss has been lectured over and over about the dark side. She knows Kylo Ren is evil, that that is where his power comes from. And yet, after what she witnessed that day, she can't stop thinking about it.

What would it be like to have the strength of the dark at her back? To walk through the streets and have peasants part for her in waves, fear radiating? To know no one could ever best her in combat?

Sometimes, she imagines what might happen if she made the choice. She imagines sneaking away from the Resistance base in the dead of night, surrendering herself to one of the First Order patrols. They would take her straight to him if she confessed her Force-sensitivity and her desire. She imagines kind old Master Vanzell exchanged for a teacher full of raw strength, imagines Ren would pass that on to her.

Later, she'll catch Rey watching her as she prepares for a show and offer a friendly smile in return, wondering if the last of the Jedi knows what she's been thinking – and what the consequences will be for Nedriss if she does.


End file.
